Domesticated dreamer

SF Girl By Bay's collection of blog posts titled In My Dreams I live here:...will no doubt inspire similar domestic dreams.

This home in Los Feliz is pretty close to a living dream for me.
Space, light, high ceilings, a big kitchen and a dedication
 to aural excellence - records and turntable ahoy! - when can I move in...?

               

Just like a bought one!

Starting its life as an in-store sunglasses display stand, this beauty is now home to my extensive jewellery collection.

When I said I'd take it off their hands, the Sussan girls looked a little puzzled. 

But I had a plan in mind before I'd even left the store.

My many many pieces of jewellery have a new home.

Not colour coordinated, but happy hanging in their new rows.

"Do you want an old sunglasses display stand?" the girls in Sussan . Why, yes, I do.  

With the rows of plastic sunglasses holders removed, the potential of the new piece is revealed.


The pieces of wood that jutted out in the original configuration make a handy shelf in its new form.

The Mr toiling away on the project, below.

He had a little helper, wisely wearing hi-vis red on site.
We used curtain rods and fixtures as new hangers.
We think the earrings rod needs to be higher and matched with another row either side of the existing row (it's also a little flimsy).
Oh, and the whole thing spins around too. Yay!
A lazy Sussan. Ha!

Window dressing

Although I'd planned to hang sheer white drapes in my giant hallway window, I came across some lovely ivory taffetta that was as cheap as chips. As I needed 7 metres of the stuff I was sold!
Plus the ribbon I used to trim the edges was not cheap. I'm happy with the outcome, especially the two differnt lengths.
And the taffeta is nice and crinkly, plus it makes a lovely swooshy sound as the wind blows through the windows. I've trimmed both edges of the curtains with ribbon now.

Paint it black

An influential image from the sadly no longer in existence Domino Magazine :(
When I saw the charcoal walls in US brand J Crew designer/director Jenna Lyons' bedroom, I was convinced to do the same in mine.

The pic on the left is of the feature wall I plan to paint charcoal, and the rest of the room's walls are going to be de-sueded (Ugh, suede effect), painted the perfect shade of white (it's Dulux's Fair Bianca half. Avoid Antique White at all costs, I used it downstairs and regret it), and the picture rails and window trim will get a gloss white finish also. I've decided to go with Dulux's Nightsky black. It's lovely.

This room gets plenty of light, so a black wall is not an issue. On the other hand, dealing with the suede effect...ugh... 

The walls are painted white, I'm layering up glossy white picture rails, and window frames, the skirting boards are next, then the black feature wall. I'm excited! 

Bathing beauty

It's been a long time coming, but I have a new bathroom.
It's almost complete, but to an unsuspecting eye, it looks done!
It seems like that peculiar mix of "only yesterday and ages ago" when I was at this stage of the renovation.

I'm so glad I asked for the little recess/shelf in the wall. Tiling it was hard, but worth it.

The gorgeous '50s green ceramic pedestal basin has been kicking around for about two and a half years. I picked it up for a bargain with this renovation in mind; it's the perfect "one accent colour" I was after for my all-white bathroom. It's elegant and has a large, wide surround for sitting bits and pieces on and most importantly, because it's not boxed in and built in it's easy to clean all the way around.

The little vintage mirror above the handbasin and the large mirror on the opposite wall "mirror" each others curvaceous shape. It's the little things.

The oval ceiling-mounted chrome shower-curtain rail, from Period Details , was the most expensive element in my renovation! Seriously. It was even more expensive than the bath, the tiles and the chrome trombone shower/bath set. Unbelievable.

Come on, come in...

Not surprisingly, one of my favourite bloggers - SF Girl By Bay - being a fellow Taurus, is on the same wavelength as moi today.
She's talking foyers. I'm thinking entry ways (foyers sounds a bit...town hall or function centre to me).
Anyhoo...as she says, they are weird little spaces, but, according to feng shui rules, they are important spaces to get right.
So, I reckon my entry way's freshly polished boards (done yesterday, and finished today) that will now greet me when I go home each day, is a pretty good place to start all the good Qi.
In the meantime, I am loving the simplicity and clean lines of this entry way, courtesy of SF Girl by Bay.

Looking up from the entry way to my stairs.
The floorboard polisher man said it costs $80 per stair to have them polished (he hates doing it and said he charges accordingly). Sheesh...maybe I'll paint them?

Calm above, mess below

A barren Hang It All, is a rare vision of cleanliness and calm among the renovation mess.

Mosaics going on in the bathroom.

Tiling with Tocci.

Smashin' fashion

It's New York fashion week, so, while painting, cleaning, culling and a bathroom renovation are front of my mind, sartorial splendour is edging its way to the centre. Yikes.
Not such a bad thing though, for at the end of this recent bout of renovating/painting will be one freshly painted and polished studio for yours truly to make jewellery in; what Triple Cee was created for in the first place...my, how we get distracted.
Photo, of Paris Vogue's style mavens, courtesy of Tommy Ton's site Jak & Jil.

Orange crush

Good morning (windows need a wash).

Nice wheels and a nice price, but bathroom renovation comes first (pics to come soon - YAY!).